Etrion and HHT have signed a development agreement and have been working closely together for more than one year to form a joint development team. The objective is a development pipeline that is expected to reach at least 100MWp of solar generation facilities under construction or shovel ready by 2015. Both companies have been providing key functions such as local content relationships with utilities and banks, engineering, procurement and construction, non-recourse project finance as well as operation, maintenance and asset management services. The construction of the first solar plant is scheduled to start in 2014.
“We are extending the range of our partners to position Etrion as a global platform for growth” said Marco A. Northland, Etrion’s Chief Executive Officer. “Etrion is honoured to partner with Hitachi Hi-Tech and sees this as a key relationship for success in Japan and other Asian markets. We are very pleased with our progress to date, and we expect to announce our first projects shortly.”
Japan is one of the largest solar markets in the world with over 15GW of installed capacity. It is also relatively low risk and has an attractive Feed-in Tariff (FiT) programme and low financing costs. The Japanese government has also issued a strong mandate to increase the deployment of renewable energy in the country in order to reduce its dependence on nuclear power. It is aiming to increase the Japanese share of renewable energy, as a percentage of the total power supply, from 10 percent in 2011 to 25-35 percent by 2030. The country additionally has a national solar power target of 28GW by 2020.
The 20-year Japanese FiT programme is worth ¥40 per kWh (US$0.38 per kWh) for projects secured the following year and the government has also announced other policy actions such as regulatory easing, tax incentives and energy sector reforms.
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